Poland always on their mind

Poland always on their mind


Erol Milo, the project manager of Astoria, Strabag Real Estate’s (SRE) first project in Poland: As Strabag group we have been present on the Polish market for a long time but not as a developer. For quite a few years we thought about entering as a developer and finally decided to take that step three years ago. According to Thomas Hohwieler, the managing director of Strabag Real Estate, our presence in many countries, including Poland, is a considerable asset. This means that the entire infrastructure needed for the development and implementation of a project is available on the spot. Thanks to this it is easy for us to apply our international experience in the development process for Astoria. Starting with this project we are planning to extend our activities on the Polish market and carry out subsequent projects in the future. The decision was simple: if you want to grow in the development segment in Central Europe, you always have to think about Poland. This is the market to be in due to its stability, knowledge, productivity and size.

What led SRE to invest in the Astoria project on ul. Przeskok in Warsaw?

Please tell me which other project we should have invested in? We opted for it in 2013. It is a very well located project in the heart of the city, so it would be difficult to find a better location – it has a good neighbourhood and excellent development prospects.

And how is the leasing going? How much is one sqm in Astoria?

It depends on the floor. The starting rent rate ranges from EUR 20 to EUR 24 per sqm per month plus app. PLN 20 of operating costs. We only started the leasing process in October and we are very pleased with the response from potential tenants. Admittedly, we do not have any contracts signed yet, but we are in negotiations with 8–10 very serious tenants who have led us to believe that they consider Astoria to be the ultimate place for them. These are mainly consultancies, legal, public sector, financial, banking, insurance and retail companies. Astoria offers an office area of almost 17,600 sqm and 1,400 of retail space, which will be accessed through two entrance halls. We want to create a building that will be impossible to walk past indifferently. The active ceiling system for regulating the temperature of the rooms will make it possible to shape the areas more flexibly and will streamline the method of heating and cooling the building. We want to deliver the best possible product for tenants and the final investors we sell the building to. We operate in a comprehensive manner, just like developers do: we build, lease and sell. Our company’s offer includes the development and construction of office buildings and other real estate projects for business and retail recipients such as hotels, residential buildings and special properties.

Astoria is SRE’s first project in Poland. Are there any others on the horizon?

So far we have not acquired any more properties, but because we have decided to particularly focus on the office segment, we are taking our next steps in this direction. We are also considering getting involved in the hotel and retail segments. But the best locations, as in the case of Astoria, are the main criteria for us.

And only in Warsaw?

No, we will not limit ourselves to the capital city. We are also interested in Kraków, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Poznań. Łódź and Katowice are also acceptable. It is not our aim to be number one, two or three. We want to carry out projects that make sense for us and for the market. I haven’t ruled out investing in redevelopments and modernisations – everything depends on the location and the parameters of a given project. We are now focused on the completion of the Astoria project. It is our first project in Poland, and it will be through this that the market forms its perception of us.

Is SRE planning to start up operations in other countries in the region?

Apart from its Cologne headquarters, Strabag Real Estate is represented in the main German business centres, Austria and Sweden, but it is also becoming more and more active in Central and Eastern Europe. There are a few opportunities out there. However, our growth should be gradual. We can see some possibilities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary too, but Poland is our main market in this part of Europe at this time.